Holistic Health!
Health is Everything!
Dance and Holistic Healing...
The Holistic Effect of Primitive Dance on Modern Man.
By Panayiotis Gabrielides(Ph.D.)(USA)
Email: drgabrielides@yahoo.com
Abstract
The main reason of the study was to determine what role primitive dance plays as a healing modality in the genre of holistic healing. The methodology employed was the theoretical approach, with the literature review being the main tool of the study. The research questions were:
i) Will the existing literature show beyond any doubt that participation in primitive dance is a modality that can be employed to enhance holistic health?
ii) Will the existing literature reveal that adding the dimensions of sacredness, costumes, amb
iii) If primitive dance is beneficial to homo sapiens sapiens, then the existing literature will easily demonstrate that primitive dance is beneficial to homo sapiens sapiens physically, emotionally, spiritually and holistically.
iv) If there are national organizations that support and encourage dance as a modality of healing and or therapy, then that will buttress the hypothesis that primitive dance, as a healing modality has a beneficial and useful place in the life of homo sapiens sapiens.
It was found that primitive dance is definitely a modality that can be beneficially used in the pursuit of holistic health, and that its effectiveness is enhanced by the addition of the sacred dimension, costumes, tribal amb
The general purpose of the study was to examine to what extent regular participation in primitive dance influences the holistic health of an individual and/or group. It was hoped that the study would increase awareness of the holistic value of participation in primitive dance. The holistic health of the individual and or group is in dire need of whatever assistance it can receive towards healing. The intent was to use the Theoretical Research approach. Gintis (2001), states:
It is indeed a sad situation that our natural instinct to move has been
separated from our every day lives. Unfortunately, most people consider
engaging in movement to be simply exercising. Most physic
exercise as a form of therapy, and prescribe it like a drug. Emilie
Conrad, the founder of Continuum Movement, states that, “movement is
what we are, not something we do.” (Conrad 1998, p.49). Ideally, we
should not be able to differentiate movement from the rest of our lives.
An integrated unit of function is not perceivable as separate parts if
it is truly unified. But frequently, we do sense that movement is
either dysfunctional or simply not present. Before movement becomes a
natural aspect of someone's life, it may need to be applied as an
exercise or therapy. We live in fast-paced times where our lives can be
easily dissociated and fragmented. We are separated from the natural
world, our natural rhythms, and our natural instinct to move as part
of our homeostatic, self-correcting, self-healing mechanism. Therefore,
there is a necessity to examine our attitudes and experience of
movement… (¶ 1-2)
There is a horrendous paucity in the general populace of the
recognition and value of primitive dance as a vehicle for holistic health.
It was hoped that the study would make the value of primitive dance
apparent.
Background and History
As things stand, the holistic health of the individual/group will always be under intense attack from the government, big money and society at large, to conform to absolutely inhuman standards that immensely crush the spirit, the mind and the body. Participation in primitive dance showed colossal promise towards guiding the individual, and eventually the group to emancipation, so that the human expression can reach for that sublime “elixir-of-eternal-life” for enhancing holistic health. Jensen (1999), brill
Exercising the trunk, especially the abdominal wall and back, helps keep
the intestine in its proper place and provides structures with good tone for
the intestine to work against. Most primitive cultures have dance
movements that exercise the trunk, back, and abdominal muscles. Modern
Westerners, on the contrary, dance with their legs, and they do this almost
to the exclusion of using the trunk, upper extremities, and neck. (p.54)
Very few westerners are even aware of this. As things stand, the vast majority of the world’s population has no access to health care and very little hope is held out for things to change any time soon. Thus, the average citizen has to fend for himself and find ways and means of enhancing health, without help from the status quo; participation in primitive dance is one such modality. It is very holistic, inexpensive, has no toxic side effects, and is relatively easy to implement in any family/group and or community setting. Dance has been and still is an integral part of homo sapiens sapiens from time immemorial. This can easily be glimpsed when one observes little children up to the age of three or four, before heavy indoctrination has set in; they easily and naturally move to the sound and rhythm of music. It was the intention to show that adults need to move to rhythm, in order to achieve holistic health.
Research Questions
Would the existing literature show that participation in primitive dance is a holistic modality that one can employ to enhance health? If the answer to the above was “yes,” a concomitant question was how to best raise awareness of and encourage participation in primitive dance as a vehicle towards guiding the individual/group to health. Would the existing literature reveal that adding the dimensions of sacredness, costumes, amb
If there are national organizations that support and encourage dance as a modality of healing and therapy, then that would buttress the hypothesis that primitive dance, as a healing modality has a beneficial and useful place in the life of homo sapiens sapiens. It was fully expected that the study based in existing literature would very adequately demonstrate that the answer to the above research questions is in the affirmative.
Significance of the Study
If it could be shown that participation in primitive dance has vast potential for increasing holistic health, then the population would have a natural, inexpensive modality of holistic healing that could possibly change the universe. For example, not only would there be a dramatic increase in physical health, but the spirit and mind would also benefit tremendously as problems like loneliness, issues of abandonment and others would quickly recede. At present, the average individual has absolutely no idea of the holistic value of primitive dance. It was hoped that the study would clearly reveal the powerful holistic benefit of primitive dance.
Definition of Terms
child-of-the-universe-within: the universal child within us, who is not haunted or tainted or taunted by race, gender, politics, dogma, etc/., etc. The innocent child that merely wants to come out and play with it’s fellows.
elixir-of-eternal-life: achieving full human potential.
group: tow or more.
holistic health: the total pursuit of health, mind, body and spirit.
mind-body-spirit triune: the concept of the relatedness of the mind, body and spirit in sustaining health. Spirit meaning the intelligent, immaterial and immortal part of man, the soul, in distinction from the body in which it resides, the agent or subject of vital and spiritual functions, whether spiritual or material. Body meaning the material organized substance of man as distinguished from the spirit, or vital principle; the physical person. Mind meaning the intellectual or rational faculty in man; the understanding, the intellect, the power that conceives, judges, or reasons.
primitive dance: includes all forms of ritual, ceremonial, religious or spiritual forms of movement and dance, that in any way resembles what so-called primitive cultures have been employing from time immemorial to appease the gods, to heal, to commune, to attract a mate, to enjoy and as part of a holistic health regimen. Primitive dance may be further defined as the psychotherapeutic use of movement as a process which furthers the emotional, cognitive, social and physical integration of the individual. It combines rhythmic movement with self-expression to create a physiological response that is of the healing dimension. It acknowledges the connection of the mind and body, and seeks to heal the one through the other, in a setting that may or may not be reminiscent of a primitive tribe dancing in the dawn of time. The time, the setting, the costumes, the place are by far of secondary importance to the actual immersion in and full experience in the participation of primitive dance. Of equal importance is the philosophy, movement, reverence, and the frame of mind that one brings to the experience of primitive dance.
nirvana: the ineffable ultimate in which one has attained disinterested wisdom and compassion. Emancipation from ignorance and the extinction of all attachment. An ideal condition of rest, harmony, stability, or joy.
quantum experience: a multi-sensory experience taking one beyond the five senses into an altered state of consciousness such as the Alpha or Theta brain waves.
status quo: the government, big money, religion, patriarchal societies, etc.
tribe, tribal: any effective community.
Chapter 2: A Review of Related Literature and Research.
Humanity has reached the point where it can confidently state that science cannot exclusively use Cartes
We use terms like mind and body and universe, but what really is the
exact nature of these things? What is the mind, what is the body, what's
the exact nature of physical reality?....One of the interesting things that
science has found, this should have been obvious all along, is that what
we call perception, what we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell, is really the
least reliable test of what reality really is. We cannot trust our senses at
all!
Or you can do another simple experiment. Take some flies and put them
in a jar. After a while remove the lid from the jar and you'll find that most
of the flies, except for a couple of pioneers, will not be able to escape.
They make a commitment in their body-mind that they're in a prison.
Sir John Eckles who won the Nobel prize in physiology and medicine
several years ago made the statement, "I want you to understand that there
are no colors in the real world. That there are no textures in the real world.
There are no fragrances in the real world. There is no beauty, there is no
ugliness. Nothing of the sort. Out there is a chaos of energy soup and
energy fields. Literally. We take that and somewhere inside ourselves we
create a world. Somewhere inside ourselves it all happens."
So what is the material world then? The material world is a cord that
comes out of these forces and the cords of intelligence that structure
particulate matter in fact exist inside us. We are the creators of this world.
Literally….Because our current understanding is that this world is made
up of matter that exists in space and time. That even human bodies are
nothing other than bits and pieces of matter. That the human body is a
physical machine that has somehow learned to think. That it's the dance of
molecules that creates the epi-phenomenon of consciousness: thoughts,
feelings, emotions, desires, concepts, ideas, philosophies, dogma, religion.
All these. Poetry is the expression of the dance of molecules. Somehow
these molecules move around and we get this epi-phenomenon called
thought. We have physical machines that have learned how to think. (¶ 2-
20)
This lengthy quote was necessary to set the stage for one of the major points of the dissertation-the hypothesis that primitive dance is a powerful way of shaping perception and thus the actual experience of third-dimensional reality.
A strong case could be made that so-called reality is as much a figment of the imagination as the paranoid perception of a schizophrenic. Chopra (1991) states:
The human body is not a frozen sculpture fixed in space and time. The
human body is a dynamic bundle of energy, information and intelligence
that constantly is renewing itself and is in exchange with the larger field
of energy, information and intelligence that we call the universe.
So maybe the body is merely the place my memories are calling home for
the time being. Maybe the DNA is also just that place that my
evolutionary memory is calling home for the time being. Maybe I'm not
physical molecules that have created the machine or created the epi-
phenomenon of consciousness. Maybe I'm consciousness itself that has
learned how to create the physical machine. Maybe I am a force of
intelligence coming out of that same unified field that makes stars and
galaxies and rain forests. Maybe I come from that same place too. And
maybe that place was never born and never died and in fact was always
there. I've just forgotten for the moment.
And this is exactly what scientists are beginning to see. Scientists are
beginning to see that it is not thoughts which are a product of molecules,
but in fact molecules are structured out of fluctuations of information in a
field of infinite information. That it is consciousness which is the
phenomenon and matter which is the epi-phenomenon. It is consciousness
which conceives, governs, constructs and actually becomes physical
matter.
What science is discovering is that we have a thinking body. Every cell in
our body thinks. Every cell in our body is actually a mind. Every cell has
its own desires and it communicates with every other cell. The new word
is not mind and body connection, we have a body-mind simultaneously
everywhere.
So when you say, “I have a sad heart,” then you literally have a sad heart.
If a scientist was looking inside the heart, he'd find it heavy with sadness.
He'll find it heavy with sad molecules. If you say, “I'm bursting with joy,”
a scientist could look at your skin. He'll find it loaded with emipramine
which is an antidepressant which in fact, has been used in the treatment of
depression by psychiatrists. If you say, “I feel exhilarated, unbounded and
joyful,” and I was to examine your blood, I would find high levels of
interluken and interferon which are powerful anticancer drugs. (¶24-43)
Absolutely amazing! Here, science is confirming the age-old aphorism: “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Chopra (1991), vividly shows that life is lived in a quantum universe and that ‘reality’ is really a matter of personal interpretation, if not a totally subjective one. From Chopra (1991), it may very validly be concluded that primitive dance is equal to any other modality of healing with the possible exception of trauma, acute illness, or any other medical emergency for which capable help is readily available form allopathic medicine.
Chopra is not alone in his claims, his theories are backed up by other top scientists. McTaggart (2003), chronicles the research of a group of frontier scientists who discovered that the Zero Point Field - an ocean of subatomic vibrations in the space between things - connects everything in the universe, much like the Force in Star Wars. The Field offers a radically new view of the way the world and the human body works. The human mind and body are not distinct and separate from their environment, but a packet of pulsating energy constantly interacting with this vast sea of energy. The Field creates a picture of an interconnected universe and a new scientific theory which makes sense of ‘supernatural’ phenomena. Clearly, it is just as scientific to make the claim that primitive dancing is beneficial to the mind-body-spirit triune, as to make the claim that antiseptics are useful in preventing a wound from becoming septic. To start with this backdrop is an attempt to allay the fears of the skeptic, left-brain, ‘nuts and bolts’ type of individual. What follows are not the pratings of demented shamans with nothing better to do than to go around chanting mantras whilst gyrating to some primitive drumming in other-worldly dance routines attempting to convince the status quo of the holistic value of such a pathetic exercise. No, what follows is a daring journey back into humanity’s ‘hinterland’ or ‘womb’ where it cam from, backed up by research and experience from the participants that will be cited.
For the purposes of this dissertation, primitive dance includes all forms of ritual or ceremonial or religious or spiritual forms of movement and or dance, that in any way resembles what so-called primitive cultures have been employing from time immemorial to appease the gods, to heal, to commune, to attract a mate, to enjoy and of course, as part of a holistic health regimen. The American Dance Therapy Association, defines ‘Dance/Movement Therapy’ as: “a process which furthers the emotional, cognitive, social and physical integration of the individual” ( ¶ 1). This is an excellent adjunct definition of primitive dance, for the purposes of this dissertation.
The mere fact that there is an American Dance Therapy Association, means it is very relevant to study the holistic value of primitive dance vis-à-vis the holistic health of modern man, but by no means is it the only reason. Colucci, states:
Dance/movement therapy has, in most recent years, become an effective
tool for treating symptoms of anxiety. Dance has been known to have
powerful effects on the mind, body, and emotions. With this multi-
sensory experience comes a new form of treatment for illness,
dance/movement therapy. This therapy combines rhythmic movement
with self-expression to create a physiological response that is of the
healing dimension. Dance therapy acknowledges the connection of the
mind and body and seeks to heal the one through the other. Although the
effects of dance therapy on anxiety have just begun to be researched, it
has already been shown to be an effective form of treatment. One of the
main reasons that this treatment is so successful is its use of non-verbal
communication and other forms of self-expression. Mohacsy (1995)
claims that at times, words are simply not adequate, a physical form of
communication is necessary, especially when releasing feelings of
anxiety. He claims that dance therapy offers this type of communication
through self-expressive actions and relaying emotions through imagery.
Boris (2001) credits early work of Marion Chace with providing the first
insightful background to test for the effects of dance on anxiety. Chace
was a pioneer and often cited as the creator of the field dance/movement
therapy in the early 1950’s, due to her background in dance and almost
accidental integration into treatment. She developed this procedure after
acquiring a position at a rehabilitation facility and applying her dance
background into treatment. Boris (2001) explains that Chace never felt
like she was treating her patients, or performing for them, but rather she
was dancing with them, and in turn healing them. This fact became the
foundation of her treatment as a professional, and later, the foundation for
the entire field of dance therapy. (¶ 1-4)
Primitive dance is also a multi-sensory, if not quantum, experience. It also combines rhythmic movement with self-expression to create a physiological response that is of the healing dimension, in a setting that may or may not be reminiscent of a primitive tribe dancing in the dawn of time. The time, the setting, the costumes, the place are of secondary importance to the actual immersion in and full experience in the participation of primitive dance.
Of equal importance is the philosophy, the movement, the reverence, the frame of mind that one brings to the experience of primitive dance. Colucci, writes:
The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of dance
therapy and relaxation therapy on the anxiety levels of college students,
specifically state anxiety. It was hypothesized that dance therapy, with its
non-verbal and self-expressive communication methods, would elicit a
greater reduction in anxiety levels than relaxation therapy. The
physiological measure of skin conductance was also tested and it was also
thought that dance therapy would educe lower skin conductance levels
than relaxation therapy due to the aforementioned qualities….The results
obtained by this study did not support the hypothesis of dance therapy
having a greater effect on the reduction of anxiety versus relaxation
therapy. However, when observing the graph, it should be noted that
following the dance therapy session, there was a greater reduction of the
means of anxiety than the post-relaxation therapy treatment. (¶ 7-17)
These results pose no problem whatsoever with the main point of the dissertation, in that it is not claimed that primitive dance is a cure-all panacea, but merely one of many ways of enhancing holistic health.
Dance, has a history that has been linked with healing from time immemorial. Lemieux (1988), states:
Dance as a therapy has played an important role in native cultures. It was
used in rituals for healing with music and chants and with people in
trance states in many primitive cultures. This occurred in Bali,
the Native American culture. Often the ritual dance was lead by one
individual; the medium person or shaman. The shaman aids in receiving
messages from the spirits, assisting in leading rites of passage and healing
the sick. This would include dances to bless a baby, to ensure fertility to a
woman, to bring luck to a hunt, to send a spirit off, etc. Although the
dance as a ritual and healing continued to play a vital role in the native
cultures of the
the end of the twelfth century. Religious sects feared its “potential
inherent power” (Penny Bernstein, Eight Theoretical Approaches in
Dance/Movement Therapy, (p. 5). Dance became more stylized and
superficial. This trend continued with court dances and the beginning of
ballet. Although folk dances continued in rural culture as a means of
social dance, it was not until the twentieth century that dance re-emerged
as an emotional expressive art. Isadora Duncan appeared ‘barefoot and
emotive’ on the stages of
was born. (¶ 27)
This quote further set the stage as an appropriate way to delve into the analysis and review of the literature available regarding the holistic impact that primitive dance has had and still has, on modern man.
Dance, as a way to heal, as a way to integrate the mind-body-triune, has been with humanity from the beginning, surviving even the attempt by organized religion to suppress it. Wilde (1998), states:
In John Randolph Price’s wonderful little volume, The Abundance Book,
he cleverly reminds us that all the philosophies and religious systems of
the ancients included the concept of self-sufficiency-that the ideas of
harmony, peace and abundance are common to all cultures….The ideas of
self-sufficiency and the oneness of all things were edited out of the
scriptures and religious teachings. Self-empowerment and independence
were considered threats to religious authority and the feudal control of
common people….In the past, we were shamed and manipulated into
believing that the individual was not important, that all power and control
over our lives should be handed over to the authorities-who would act as
custod
It is easy to see that oppressed people are easy to manipulate and control. A self-empowered, independent population, though, cannot easily be controlled and manipulated. As a consequence the Church and State have always done their best to either ridicule self-empowering ideas or to outright outlaw them as heretical and or acts of treason. Primitive dance as a healing modality easily falls into this category. It is also easy to see that once humanity moves through all the ridicule, all the shame, all the quackery that the status quo richly associates with primitive dance as a healing modality, humanity can begin to gain the freedom, the independence, and the holistic value that goes with it. This is no easy task, the programming of the status quo is extremely formidable.
Through the medium of primitive dance healing and communal expression is experienced. New inspiration is received for the inner journey as well as for avocation in the modern world!
This experiential workshop is based on simple folk dances, the living
descendants of the primitive healing dance which is also the ancestor of
dance/movement therapy. Along with creative improvisation and
meditation on ancient images of woman, they provide a structure for a
‘living ritual’. This helps us journey to the roots of healing dance and to
the source of our empowerment as women. We are enabled to find a new
context for our present-day questioning, and new hope for the future we
imagine.
The simplest village folk dances are the ones which have
survived the longest, and are considered by dance anthropologists to be
the living descendants of the primitive therapeutic dance tradition which
is also the ancestor of dance/movement therapy. Through them we can
touch the source of dance as healing, communal expression, and receive
new inspiration for our inner journey as well as our work in the modern
world.
Dance therapy is said to have its roots in primitive healing dance as it has
been practised throughout history. Many authors in dance therapy
literature including Leventhal, Levy, Bartenieff, Bernstein, Schmais,
Hanna, Espenak and Blacking, acknowledge the historic use of dance as a
therapeutic modality and an antecedent of present-day dance therapy. The
early dance forms themselves have, for the most part, disappeared, but
their influence is apparent in the ethnic and folk dance traditions
descended from them: Lange tells us that "there is a visible connection
between the art of the vanished 'primitive' cultures and those still existing"
and that "these connections have lasted into contemporary times".
The dances themselves are in line, open and closed circle, labyrinth/ spiral
and solo formations, all of which contribute in their own way to the
provision of a safe and supportive space in which healing can occur.
Sharing rhythm and effort quality creates an atmosphere of mutual
holding and support, while simple movements are repeated to evoke the
universality of human experience in space and time. The circular dance
pattern can be seen as a mandala, where the personal circle is aligned with
the circle of the universe, and so the universal symbol of unity and totality
becomes a personal symbol as well. The mandala enables each dancer to
centre herself and harmonises the different energies of the individual
dancers into a balanced whole.
The ritual is created primarily by the forms and structures of the dances
themselves, and is given meaning by the attitude and intention that the
dancers bring to it. As Beck and Metrick explain in The Art of Ritual, the
purpose of creative ritual is to increase "balance and connection within
ourselves, with each other, the world, and with the larger rhythms and
energies that bring stability and light to our lives". The ritual can serve as
a symbolic bridge between the roots of our profession, its present-day
questioning, and the future we imagine. ( ¶ 3-8)
There it is, crystal clear and easy to comprehend. Note the plethora of characteristic phrases that were encountered as the review progressed ‘…through them we can touch the source of dance as healing, communal expression, and receive new inspiration for our inner journey as well as our work in the modern world…’ this was the essence of the dissertation. There is a huge gaping hole in humanity’s hectic and frenetic lives. A hole that can easily, adequately and inexpensively be filled by pursuing participation in primitive dance as a modality of holistic health. Bradshaw (1998), mentions the hole in the soul that exists in modern man. This hole in the soul comes to humanity as an inheritance for living in so-called civilization, cut off from sharing rhythm and effort which creates an atmosphere of mutual holding and support, simple movements repeated to evoke the universality of human experience in space and time.
Primitive dance has been researched and studied by many. Eminent among those is Emilie Conrad, founder and director of Continuum Movement. Emilie Conrad is a visionary whose revolutionary work continues to inspire an international audience of therapists and movement educators. Emilie was born and raised in
Dr Hunt (1995), maintains that at the deepest level, all things are composed of vibrations ordered into fields that saturate the entire constitution. Vibration heals. It soothes muscles, stimulates nerves, generates energy. Within the body is a veritable symphony of vibrations. The liver produces one vibratory “chord,” each nerve another, and the bones yet another. Indeed each cell is playing a particular note that contributes to overall harmony.
Hunt’s groundbreaking study demonstrated that enhancing fluid primary movements is essential to the ability to innovate. Hunt’s study brought new insights to the understanding of the healing of disease, paralysis and the aging process. Hunt’s study found that Continuum movements vibrated at a higher frequency and were more complex than larger, gross movements. These movements could innovate new neural pathways, liberate locked tissue and activate a fluid flux in a previously static system. The movement within the fluids transforms all healing processes. Continuum Movement Therapy maintains that an element of illness results from constraints on what would be an inherently mutable system. Humans, as fluid-based organisms, have the potential to organize, fluctuate and re-organize according to circumstance. Constraints, accumulated over time, impede the flexibility of the system. Through the daily mingling of psychological, cultural, neuromuscular, and stress factors, layers of compensation are developed that become solidified, patterned and continually recycled. Eventually, the body becomes a closed system, vulnerable to the onslaught of illness and emotional disarray. Continuum presents a graceful way of easing the constraints that inhibit the body’s inherent flexibility and innate intelligence to facilitate healing. By enhancing the fluid system’s ability to transform, Continuum creates an adaptive body that welcomes, responds to and maintains change.
Primitive dance is intimately intertwined with nutrition, as Tierra (1998), points out:
True ‘holistic’ healing involves a healing of both mind and soul, and
native shamans, curanderos and medicine men and women are always
very aware of this fact. Using various tricks and performances to entice
and help others to see themselves in a more positive way, they offer herbs
as plant sacraments providing a specific point of focus for all of their
creative play. (p. xxvii).
The amb
African dance use of the body itself and the characteristic use of bent knees and the isolation of body parts makes it very holistic. Katz (1982), lucidly portrays the dynamic of a community that is benefiting from primitive dance. Apart from the obvious benefit of keeping one fit, primitive dance has many other benefits. Within African Dance is found the closest and most physical links between life overall and the dance. Traditional African music is participatory. All the activities of daily life are often accompanied by music, song, and rhythm. Every day, there may be a special event in which music and dance is the central activity. Almost everyone present will be actively involved in several different ways at once, playing instruments, dancing, singing, hand-clapping, observing, commenting, being commented upon. This creates the desired holistic effect of belonging, appreciation, purpose, leading to belief in self and emancipation.
The Bushmen or San of the Kalahari in
The most concise of explanations for how firewalking actually works
comes from the most primitive of cultures on our planet, the Kung of the
observed and reported upon by several Western scholars, always with a
sense of awe and amazement, for the Kung take the practice far beyond
the "typical" firewalk. They dance through fires that have been burning
for hours, standing still in the fire, picking up coals in their hands, putting
their faces and heads into the flames, rubbing coals into their bodies,
swallowing coals--all with an incredible sense of freedom, and without
any of the equivocal factors that concern skeptics.
One vivid account has come to us through
professor, Richard Katz. 52 Katz spent his time among the Kung focusing
specifically upon their approach to healing, and their experience with
altered states of consciousness. Central to the Kung's philosophy and
healing practices is their belief in an all-pervasive spiritual energy that
they call num, and the high-energy-enhanced state of consciousness called
kia. Their major way for activating num and going into kia is the ritual of
the healing dance, an all-night ecstatic ceremony that often inspires
dancers to "work with" the fire in extraordinary ways. Thus, the Kung
have developed a powerful experience of firedancing and have done so
within a consistent and well-reasoned philosophical context. (Rather than
the strictly religious explanations of so many firewalking cultures.)
The Kung firedance to activate num so that certain members of the
community will go into kia, which in turn promotes healing for
individuals in need, and for the community as a whole. According to Katz,
“The Kung also practice extraordinary activities during kia. They perform
cures and, as part of their effort to heal, may handle and walk on fire, see
the insides of people's bodies and scenes at great distances from their
camp, or travel to god's home--activities never attempted in their ordinary
state.”
In the words of a Kung healer, “When we enter kia, we are different from
when our num is not boiling and small. We can do different things.”
Another Kung comments, “If a ‘big’ healer wants to go into the fire, we
would let him, because he is an owner of num. He may kneel and stick his
head in the fire and hold it there.”
As extraordinary as such activities may seem to us, they make perfect
sense to the Kung. As Katz puts it, “The Kung do not see working with
the fire as extraordinary; they are not surprised that they are not burned.
Their explanation is simple: when the num in their body is boiling and as
hot as the fire, they cannot be burned when working with the fire. When
their num is dormant or cold or cooled down, they can be burned.”
Just as their actions in the boiling num state of kia do not seem especially
extraordinary to the Kung, neither does the actual experience of having
num, boiling or cold, nor the experience of going into kia. The Kung
experience num as real, tangible, and physical, not at all abstract, esoteric,
or merely mental. They speak of the boiling of num in the same way, and
with the same word for "boiling," as they would speak of boiling water, or
cooking food, or the ripening of fruits and vegetables, or the first menses
of a young woman. In each case they describe a physical event in which
essential spiritual energy has been excited, aroused, and "boiled" to
perfect fruition.
One Kung healer describes the boiling of num: “You dance, dance, dance,
dance. Then num lifts you up in your belly and lifts you in your back, and
you begin to shiver. Num makes you tremble; it's hot . . . you're looking
around because you see everything, you see what's troubling everybody.
Rapid shallow breathing draws num up. What I do in my upper body with
the breathing, I also do in my legs with the dancing . . . Then num enters
every part of your body, right to the tip of your feet and even your hair.”
Another healer says: “In your backbone you feel a pointed something and
it works its way up. The base of your spine is tingling, tingling, tingling,
tingling. Then num makes your thoughts nothing in your head.”
These Kung describe a real, tangible, and physical phenomenon,
attainable according to a prescribed methodology, constantly repeated for
thousands of years, and observed to have concrete, practical benefits to
the ommunity. Moreover, they offer the best explanation of what actually
happens at a firewalk and how the experience applies to life in general.
We can note clear parallels between the Kung's concepts of num and kia
and similar concepts from other cultures. The placing of the energy source
in the lower abdomen and the base of the spine, the feeling of energy
rising up the spine, the use of rapid breathing, the experiences of heat,
tingling, and vibration, the empty mind, the clearing of vision, the
expanded powers, the ability to heal, the sense of being fully human and
spiritually inspired--we could as easily be listening to a Chinese chi kung
master or a Tibetan yogic adept or a Sufi whirling dervish or an ecstatic
many of the firewalkers I have spoken with.
When the num in their body is boiling and as hot as the fire, they cannot
be burned when working with the fire. When their num is dormant or cold
or cooled down, they can be burned. When we arouse, activate, and
excite our vital energy to its fullest, then we feel fully empowered and
capable of the extraordinary. When our energy remains dormant, cold, and
tightly contracted, then we feel diminished and limited, and far more
prone to failure and disappointment. (¶ 5-15)
That is the quintessential experience of primitive dance, as perfected by the kung. All the familiar phrases denoting the quantum experience are there. It is difficult to experience something like this and not experience the desired holistic effect of belonging, appreciation, purpose, belief in self and self-emancipation.
Contrast this with the day-today vapid, bland and insipid experience of a big city dweller, struggling to make ends meet, in a job that is hated, divorced, lonely, too dependent on alcohol, ingesting fast food and prescription medication. In contrast, the kung are free, they are masters of their own fate, healing comes naturally to them. Num is not limited to a great shaman, all experience it, all benefit, it is a people’s force, used by all for the good of all, as well as for the individual. Besides treating physical illnesses, the ‘trance dance’ of the San Bushmen, was traditionally used to heal spiritual sicknesses, which, it was believed, led to conflicts and broken relationships. Such healing power allowed Bushmen to live together peacefully under harsh, stressful conditions. Now the dance is used as a means of expelling the social ills plaguing communities swept into an alien culture.
The Bushmen are a vanishing breed, their powerful and evocative num dance is fading fast and along with it, their self-empowerment. National Geographic Society (2001), states:
Invited by the reserve’s owners, landless Bushmen settled in a village near
the resort. When tourists arrive, the Bushmen trade their Western clothes
for skins and hurry to the visitor center, where they dance, answer
questions, and sell crafts. Some reports have likened the operation to a
human zoo. But for some Bushmen it is the best life they have found in a
world that no longer allows them to pursue their ancient way of life. (¶ 1)
The Financial Times (2002), reported:
The
lands and into permanent settlements.
At the
around dying fire embers in an alcove off the sections devoted to the
evolution of man and archaeology.
In a nearby casement lie their finely made bows and arrows, a quiver,
gourds and an animal hide. But the display boards that once explained the
life of the hunter-gatherer bushmen of the
lights above the mannequins are out.
If the
existence will go the same way as the exhibition that commemorates their
ancestral history.
Their practice of hunting animals with spears, arrows and snares over
large tracts of arid land is already almost extinct. But the state is helping
to speed up the process by moving the desert-dwellers off their ancestral
lands and into permanent settlements.
capita income in
bushmen is to help them benefit from this wealth, by providing schools,
healthcare and job training. It also says it wants to give the reserve over to
wildlife conservation that it claims has been thwarted by the Basarwa's
hunting activities.
“All Batswana (the people of
here were all cattle herders and hunters. But it's no longer practicable,”
says President Festus Mogae of
longer a viable way of life.”
Three months ago, Mogae's government cut off water supplies to the
communities in the reserve on the grounds that the cost of transporting
water was too high.
The heavy-handed tactics have been successful, almost clearing the
reserve of inhabitants. There are now about 24 Basarwa left on the
reserve, out of a population of about 2,000 only a few years ago. Many of
those who have moved into new settlements during the past three months
say the alternative was to die of thirst.
“We didn't want to go. The government said, 'If you stay there we won't
supply you with water'. That's why we left,” says Philatwe Lentodi, who
last month was brought by truck to a settlement.
The forced removals have been controversial, attracting the attention of
NGOs worldwide.
Botswana Human Rights and the First People of the Kalahari have gone to
court in a bid to have the government's actions declared unconstitutional.
Survival International, a London-based non-government organisation, has
likewise accused the
against the Basarwa, claiming the government has ignored a European
Union offer to pay for services in the reserve.
Stephen Corry, Survival's director, says: “Taking away their water is
meant to force them into government camps, where their tribal life is torn
away to leave them as listless drunks and beggars.” (¶ 1-15)
Big Brother is stamping out the San peoples’ way of life and along with that their self-empowerment. The result will be a group of ‘listless drunks and beggars.’ This goes to the core of this dissertation, which is the need to get back to tribal roots, without which, many would have long ago been reduced to ‘listless drunks and beggars.’ It has clearly been shown that the San Bushmen were a proud, healthy and happy people till diamonds, government and greed reduced them to the condition of ‘listless drunks and beggars.’
Primitive dances very often act out the process of the hunt, thus, important benefits are reaped by expanding comfort zones, as a result of participation in the hunt-dances. As the warrior acts out the part, the concomitant psychosomatic dynamic is activated, giving rise to, among other phenomena, the visualization that takes place, enhancing self-esteem and expanding comfort zones. This in turn makes the warrior a more able hunter, providing the nutrition needed for self and the tribe at large. Likewise, modern man, by participating in primitive dance, will expand his comfort zone, will enhance his self-esteem, as the concomitant visualization stirs within him the belief in his ability to manifest that coveted job, or that desired soul-mate, etc.
By way of corroboration, the San diet was compared to the nutrition of the average westerner. The !Kung or San are a foraging tribe who live in the
distributed fourteen potfuls of meat and no one went home hungry and no
fights broke out” (¶ 54). This is the way of the San, carefree, open, relaxed. Their lifestyle engenders peace and harmony.
What follows is a paraphrase of the work of Lee (1984). The !Kung San are a group of people living in the Kalahari region of southern
The !Kung are small in stature, lean, and well-nourished. Adult women average 4'10" tall, 87 lb, and men average 5'2"tall and 112 lb. They are also very active. While !Kung women typically only spend 12-20 hours a week (compare that to the average 45 plus hour American week) actively gathering plant foods, they carry infants with them while they work, and typically carry the weight of the day's harvest and/or firewood (often 25-30 lbs) 5 miles or more back to camp. Men do most of the hunting, and some gathering, but typically only hunt 1-2 days a week.
Lee (1984), recorded information about the wild plant and animal foods that the !Kung collected, so it is possible to evaluate the nutritional content of their average wildfood diet. During the mongongo season, for example, Lee calculated that the average per capita caloric intake is 2355 kcal/day, while the average energy expenditure per person was 1975 kcal/day. However, he did not record food intakes by individual, only by group. The !Kung actively share food. Plant foods and animal foods collected by women and children are shared within family groups. Hunted game animals are the ‘property’ of those involved in the hunt (including the owner of the dog, and the maker of the arrow), but game meat is shared throughout the community, so that every individual gets a portion. Overall, vegetable foods provide about 70% of the !Kung diet.
The !Kung congregate in semi-permanent camps near water holes during the winter season. A number of plant-food staples are available during the winter months, including the important mongongo fruit/nut, and the diet is varied. The crisp, clear days are ideal for walking, visiting relatives in other camps, and tracking and snaring animals. A fascinating aspect of !Kung life is the strong belief in the / / gangwasi. These spirits of recently deceased Ju/'hoansi are considered to be responsible for illness and misfortune.
Lee (1984), explains that if herbs, spells, potions, etc. don't cure ills, the !Kung resort to a healing power known as n/ um. This clearly portrays the interdependence of the primitive dance with nutrition. It is interesting to note that n/ um is not only available to shamans or special medicine people, but is available to all who want to learn to use the power. N/ um reflects the basic egalitar
The healing trances take place at all-night dances. There are both men's and women's dances and new manifestations of n/ um with new rituals are constantly appearing as young healers experience revelations during dreams, trances or illness. Lee (2000), states:
To my mind, one of the best indices of whether the Ju/’hoansi[the San
bushmen] were truly ‘alive and well’ was the famous medicine dance, or
n/um tchai. It was chronicled in Healing Makes Our Hearts Happy:
Spirituality & Cultural Transformation Among the Kalahari Ju’Hoansi, a
book by Richard Katz, Megan Biesele, and Verna St. Denis, (Inner
Traditions International, 1997), and in Nyae Nyae !Kung: Beliefs and
Rites (Peabody Museum Press, 1999), by Lorna Marshall, the dean of
Kalahari ethnographers, now in her 103rd year. (¶ 7)
There it is, “one of the best indices of whether the Ju/’hoansi[the San bushmen] were truly alive and well was the famous medicine dance”. The primitive dance of the San is of paramount importance as an index of the San’s holistic health. It has already been pointed out in the example of the Botswana government vs the San, how Big Brother, along with Big Money, do not want an empowered, aware and self-confident population, they are almost impossible to subdue and mass-manage.
Next, the fiasco known as ‘The Lakota Ghost Dance’ in which the Sioux were pitted against the might of the
To be sure, the agents did not take the Ghost Dance seriously at first.
When they did become aware of it nearly 40% of the reservation were
dancing. The following telegram to Agent McLaughlin at Pine Ridge from
an Agent Wells from a nearby agency shows the confusion and sense of
urgency they felt:
“Pardon me for the privilege I take in asking you some questions in
regard to your Ind
Dance, or what is known as the coming of Messiah next Spring. Are your
Ind
suppressing [sic] it, or what in your opinion would be the beat means of
stopping it. The reason I ask is our Ind
it is certainly getting serious as they are defying the Police force, and from
what I can learn [sic] the Rose Bud Ind
is no telling what will grow out of it in the near future... I am telling you
this that you can see the magnitude the craze has taken if it will be any
service to you to know. Dr. D.F. Royer, our new agent took charge this
week, but I think he has got an elephant on his hands, as the craze had
taken such a hold on the Ind
In the ensuing days the Sioux dancers became more and more belligerent
and bolder in their defying of agency authority. The result was that agent
Royer was granted his wish of military intervention. Whether by the
‘Grace of God’ or by the ‘whip of history,’ the Seventh U.S. Calvary was
chosen to aid in squelching the Ghost Dance. It will be remembered that
just a few short years before, at the battle of ‘the Little Big Horn,’ this unit
had been soundly defeated in battle by the very band of Ind
were now in pursuit of. No doubt a sense of bitterness and an aching for
revenge permeated the ranks of those who lost friends in the first battle.
(9-415).
It is not within the scope of this paper to go into detail about the
massacre that occurred after the rebel dancers returned to the agency
camp. Suffice to say another bizarre set of circumstances led to the
soldiers opening fire on the unarmed camp of men, women and children.
The outcome was that an estimated 350 Sioux lost their lives.
“The white men were frightened and called for soldiers. We[the Sioux]
had begged for life, and the white men thought we wanted theirs. (9-415)”
These words from Red Cloud describe the confusion and fear that white
men held for the Ghost Dance. The religion was grossly misunderstood by
most of the white population. White men dance for pleasure, fun and
recreation. The Ind
Because of this great gap in their understandings few white men ever
really sought to understand the Ghost Dance. One that did was a Captain
Hugh L. Scott, He wrote his superiors that:
“Wovoca has given these people a better religion than they ever had
before, taught them precepts, which, if faithfully carried out, will bring
them into better accord with their white neighbors, and has prepared the
way for their final
Smithson
the religion still gripped the tribes, he went west and, by means of
specialized training and a sympathetic approach, learned all any white
man possibly could about it.
“Mooney himself saw the Ghost Dance in its larger context and not just a
phenomenon of primitive peoples. Any race that has been crushed as were
the American Ind
redeemer. Hope becomes a faith and the faith becomes the creed of priests
and prophets, until the hero is a god and the dream a religion, looking to
some great miracle of nature for its culmination and accomplishment.” (5-
71). (¶ 42-54)
The doctrines of the Hindu avatar, the Hebrew Messiah, the
From time immemorial, all that the average person wanted to do was to be free to live in peace and to provide for his family and tribe in an equitable manner. The moguls of war, however, were never interested in allowing such a state of affairs to persist for any length of time. Norrell (2004), who reports in indigenous issues throughout North and
When the Ghost Dance arrived in 1890, Lakota danced to bring back the
buffalo and a good way of life. They were persecuted and fled to the
Badlands to a place Lakota call ‘Oonakizin,’ or the Stronghold.
Men, women, children and old people were fired upon by the Home
Guard, now the
at least 70 Ghost Dancers were dead.
Two Bulls believes the thighbone emerged from its shallow grave for a
reason.
“We are the keepers of the Stronghold Dream. We are camped on top of
the Stronghold to protest what the National Park Service is planning to do
and come what may we will protect the bones of our relatives, the Lakotas
and our friends and allies, the
What has emerged here is more than the protection of the gravesites of
Ghost Dancers, it has become a fortress of resistance, an anchor in a world
out of balance.”
“We all know what the Ghost Dance was about. It was a dance that the
Ind
good for the wandering Lakota.”
In a trance they would travel to the Spirit world and visit and mingle with
departed loved ones. The Dance terrified non-Ind
government decided they were going to put a stop to this terrorism.
(¶ 1-36)
Attention is dawn to the following words: ‘it(the dance) has become a fortress of resistance, an anchor in a world out of balance’. From a holistic point of view, primitive dance is an anchor in a world out of balance. Primitive dance undoubtedly brings balance to the holistically-oriented soul. The Native Americans in the above tableaux, knew the value of primitive dance, and they defended it with their lives. History spoke for itself, the value of primitive dance was once again poignantly revealed.
Primitive dance also helps participants make significant life-changes. Magoulick, states:
After participating in the Sun Dance, one of the revived sacred
ceremonies that Wounded Knee II made possible, Mary Crow Dog feels
joyful and whole: I could hear the spirits speaking to me through the
eagle-bone whistles. I heard no sound but the shrill cry of the eagle bones.
I felt nothing and, at the same time, everything. It was at that moment that
I, a white-educated half-blood, became wholly Ind
great rush of happiness. I heard a cry coming from my lips:
Ho Uway Tinkte.
A Voice I will send.
Throughout the Universe,
Maka Sitomniye,
My Voice you shall hear:
I will live! (260)
Such feelings of hope and potential signify a change in the Native world.
Individuals within Native communities are subject to the pressures and
problems that remain as part of our world, and they may at times falter on
“the good path.” Mary Crow Dog went through hard times after feeling
the joy of the sun dance ceremony.[1] Likewise, some of the consultants
with whom I worked are now struggling again with alcoholism,
unemployment or other problems. Yet the discourse and practices of
renewal and hope remain in place, and have helped many Native people to
come to life as positively as these hopeful images of change suggest.
They have been through treatments such as twelve step programs, and
while they credit these programs and continue to participate in them, they
also believe their turning point, and much of their strength, comes from
being Native American, and living in a ‘good,’ ‘traditional,’ ‘spiritual’
way. ( 10-17)
Once again, it is seen how participation in primitive dance brings with it more than just dancing. It brings with it a whole way of life, a life that expands the individual’s awareness in many other areas of life.
Primitive dance participants were moved to make major life-changes such as conquering alcoholism. Pitchford (1993), states:
If spiritual inclination comes first, food and other objects become it’s
reflections. (p.6). If the emotions are strongly obstructed, focus on
clearing the liver and become more involved in creative movement and
exercise. (p. 81). Fasting or at least dietary restraint has been used in
every culture to support spiritual practices. Because spiritual disciplines
clarify the mind and energise the body, fasting and all food choices are
made much simpler. (p. 241).
Primitive dancing is a big part of spiritual inclination and creative movement. Once again, this goes to the heart and core of the dissertation. Participation in primitive dance by modern man will enhance health in many ways. Primitive dancing is often associated with spiritual practice, which is often associated with nutrition. This is a big breakthrough when one considers that most people find it absolutely impossible to give up destructive habits, whether those be narcotics, alcohol, malnutrition or co-dependencies, to name a few. Taking such an individual and immersing him in the holistic amb
The link between primitive dance and physical fitness is obvious. Because primitive dance involves movement of the torso as well as the legs, there are benefits from a physical fitness point of view. Jensen (1999), states:
Exercising the trunk, especially the abdominal wall and back, helps keep
the intestine in it’s proper place and provides structures with good tone for
the intestine to work against. Most primitive cultures have dance
movements that exercise the trunk, back, and abdominal muscles. Modern
Westerners, on the contrary, dance with their legs, and they do this almost
to the exclusion of using the trunk, upper extremities, and neck. (p. 54).
Price (2000), states:
On arising early in the morning, the chief of the village starts singing a
song which is accompanied by a rhythmic dance. This is taken up not only
by the members of his household, but by all in the adjoining households
until the entire village is swaying in unison to the same tempo. This has a
remarkably beneficial effect in not only developing deep breathing, but in
developing the muscles of the body, particularly those of the abdomen,
with the result that these people (Maori) maintain excellent figures to old
age. (p. 214).
Here, the benefits of primitive dance such as physical fitness, anti-aging properties, musco-skeletal structure and correction of displaced internal organs are clearly seen.
With participation in primitive dance, there are concomitant holistic benefits. For example, the physiological state is influenced by the mental-emotional state and vice versa. Paraphrasing Gilbert (1992), every change in the physiological state is accompanied by an appropriate change in the mental-emotional state and conversely, every change in the mental-emotional state is accompanied by an appropriate change in the physiological state. When participating in primitive dance, the physical act will influence the mental-emotional state and vice versa.
A depressed individual moves very easily from the state of depression to the state of mental well-being by the mere act of participating in the amb
The third source I used for constructing the Dionysiac Model is
Anastenaria. It is a Greek ritual in which people dance until in a trance
and eventually walk over burning coals. Observing their dance one can
see that the participants, especially when they are neophytes, are in an
agony of suspense, uneasiness and agitation. They let out screams of grief
and even when not dancing, are not aware of the presence of others.
Eventually they step onto the coals where they curse Evil with the words –
“May it turn into ashes!” After the firewalking they seem released and
happy, smiling and talkative. The ultimate goal for the participants in the
Dionysiac ritual is the Communion with the ‘God’. This is more or less
the aim of all traditional rituals. The difference in the Dionysiac cult is
that ‘God’ could be translated as the primitive instincts and impulses of
the persons involved. The goal is for the participant to release emotions of
distress, agitation, anger and discomfort in a primitive way. In the
Dionysiac Cult the participants performed frenzied dances for the whole
night. Dionysus represents all these primitive elements within the human
condition, which need to be expressed. Resistance to them could prove to
be harmful as they can erupt in inappropriate circumstances. The easiest
way for an individual to release them is through an elementary activity
such as dance accompanied by vocal sounds or just screaming. In
Anastenaria the participants perform a very simple dance based on a
cyclical pattern which lasts for many hours before it culminates in the
firewalking. There is also another side to this ritual, particularly important
for this study. There are references by the participants, quoted by Loring
Danforth, that they suffered from depression or they had even had nervous
break-downs before starting to participate in this ritual (1979:141-163).
Their initiation to this ecstatic dance proved to be a cure for their
condition. Also, when they first started dancing it was painful to enter the
trace-like state. When I see them dancing it seems as if most of them are
trying to rid themselves of something that tortures them from inside. ( ¶ 9-
12)
Here, a very common phenomenon was observed, primitive dance routinely alleviated depression.
Participation in primitive dance and the concomitant rituals it immerses the individual in, has a provocative way of bringing issues to the surface. These issues run the full gamut of psychological phenomena. Participants amass a phenomenal amount of self-knowledge, whether positive or negative, or a mixture of both, leading to, inter alia, a greater acceptance of self, a greater acceptance of others, of the world, the universe, the cosmos, etc. Stevens, states:
The elders teach us to dance the dances of emu, the powerful dance of the
eagle. Over and over we swoop and dive to the sound of the clicking
sticks and then with a mighty pounce each of us in turn swoops up a rabbit
in our talons. We dance, we laugh, we bond through elation out there in
the smoke of the fire in the middle of a vast land that is beginning to feel
strangely like home. The old men's eyes glitter and they speak in
broken English with great warmth. We sit in the dirt in the rain and watch
the elders make ceremonial objects.
At sunset, we men are led into the bush. A cold wind is blowing but we
are asked to take off our shirts and one by one the old men paint our
bodies with white stripes and dots. Leaves are put into our red headbands
and prayers are chanted as we are transformed into eagles. We emerge
from the bush in a long line and begin to dance the dances we have been
taught in front of the women and children who are assembled around a
roaring campfire. We become emus, we become eagles. I have never felt
so much like an animal. The prayers, dances, the ceremony of painting is
all working. We feel like men and yet we feel like animals of the land and
sky. The dances are sacred and we are in awe. That night around the
campfire the men speak warmly and openly about their feeling for the
land, its magic, and ourselves.
The next day it is time for the women to learn dances and present for the
men. Only three of the Western Women participate because of the painful
and awkward conflict that has arisen. It is necessary for the women to
bare their breasts for the honey ant dance and the three spend the
afternoon with elder women ceremonially preparing their
bodies for the dance. They are accepted into the womb of a canvas tent
where they are anointed and fussed over by the elder women. Later these
women say it is like coming home to family.
When the men assemble by the fire for the dance, the women,
accompanied by an elder, line up facing the men. They are so painted and
decorated that they have lost their individual identities and are totally
transformed into honey ants. The other women of the group not
participating in the dance were nowhere to be seen. The dance is so
gentle, so poignant, so beautiful that we men are moved to tears. These
women made themselves vulnerable in a way that begins to heal some of
the wounds of the morning.
We visit an ancient sacred cave filled with paintings depicting the story
just told. The women reveal pain at hearing the story and seeing the
images while the men are fascinated with the story and the cave. In the
evening, several women reveal that they have been raped earlier in their
lives.
We ponder whether visiting this songline has helped to exacerbate the
deep conflict in our group and the intense unprovoked anger toward the
men. Perhaps we were entering the story written in the land and beginning
to play it out in some unconscious way. Whatever the case, our rift could
not be healed. We met as a group during a fiery Austral
tried hard to make peace with the angry women, to try to look at the anger
and understand it but all to no avail. The attempt failed utterly and the
warrior author and public speaker, the human development specialist
remained grimly silent, unable or unwilling to engage in any kind of
healing dialogue. Although this saddened the rest of our group we were
able to look at one another, dirty, ragged, smoke stained, and wind burned
and see more depth than before. We looked better than when we had first
met, eyes glittering, vitality exuding, mouths smiling. We were about to
go home having been transformed. We had been through hardship,
emotional strain, had old wounds opened by this land and its people. We
were sobered and humbled and the emperors clothes were strewn across
the landscape. These thought leaders or perhaps thoughtless leaders had
arrived competitive and prideful, filed with silly expectations and we had
utterly failed our mission. What we gained was immeasurably more
valuable. We were humbled and we were taught by these ragged
unwashed peoples. They would not fix us and we could not fix them.
They have terrible problems to overcome if they are to step into the next
century. Yet, their problems, difficult as they are not more challenging
than the ones we are faced with. We were unable to make it through a
week without social meltdown. That, in a nutshell, is the state of the
planet today. Our small group was a microcosm of the world, a mix of
young souls and older souls; some resisting the lessons, others
acknowledging what must be done. Behind the male/female conflict is
simply dragon activity and it is as old as the songlines, at least 40,000
years old. These songlines provide the time-honored solutions; that
dragons never pay out; that there are always heavy consequences for
letting them dictate our behavior. (¶ 14-28)
Note the familiar terms encountered:-‘We dance, we laugh, we bond through elation out there in the smoke of the fire in the middle of a vast land that is beginning to feel strangely like home…they speak… with great warmth… we are transformed…the prayers, dances, the ceremony of painting is all working…we feel like men and yet we feel like animals of the land and sky…dances are sacred and we are in awe…the men speak warmly and openly about their feeling for the land, its magic, and ourselves…the dance is so gentle, so poignant, so beautiful that we men are moved to tears…these women made themselves vulnerable in a way that begins to heal some of the wounds of the morning…we were able to look at one another, dirty, ragged, smoke stained, and wind burned and see more depth than before…we looked better than when we had first met, eyes glittering, vitality exuding, mouths smiling…we were about to go home having been transformed…’ Here, the core of the dissertation, is laid bare, self-explanatory, the awakening-the bonding-the healing-the self-empowerment-are all here, unmasked and clear.
However, the divine dichotomy of humanity’s existence is brill
‘In the evening, several women reveal that they have been raped earlier in their lives….we ponder whether visiting this songline has helped to exacerbate the deep conflict in our group and the intense unprovoked anger toward the men….whatever the case, our rift could not be healed….we met as a group during a fiery Austral
An increase in self-awareness does not dissolve day to day problems. To paraphrase Hillman (1993):
It is better to be aware that you’re going down the tubes while you’re going down the tubes, than to be going down the tubes and be unaware of it. Here is a more realistic state of consciousness is seen. The participants in primitive dance experience the renting of the holy veil in two, so to speak, and yet, that is also a healing of sorts, as one comes to terms with the infinitude of our existentialism. While humanity wears this mantle called the mind-body-spirit triune, it will never reach the ultimate nirvana.
The Aboriginal songline whispers that some wounds are so deep that it may take another incarnation to heal them, who knows? Very able minds have addressed this challenge from time immemorial, to no conclusive avail. It is a deep mystery humanity has to live with, which is O.K. Peck (1993), states:
One of the things that tend to characterize the least mentally healthy, the
least mature among us is their lack of a taste for mystery, or their relative
lack of curiosity. What bothers me the most when I visit a psychiatric
hospital is not the insanity, not the rage or the fear or the anger or the
depression, but the apathy….What happens with healthy people when it
begins to snow? They go to the window, look out and say, “Hey, it’s
starting to snow,” or, “Wow, it’s really coming down heavy now,”.…But
in a psychiatric hospital when someone says, “Hey, it’s starting to snow,”
the patients usually respond, “Don’t interrupt our card game.” (p.76).
Clearly a taste for mystery is needed for mental health to be present. A certain divine dichotomy is O.K. to live with. Humanity’s desire to have everything mapped out in advance, so it knows exactly where it going is an unrealistic and immature response to the mystery that the Universe purposely shrouds its existence in. So, even though, primitive dance has its limitations, it should be no barrier to its pursuit in the healthy interest of attaining what holistic value may be gained from it.
Transformation, awakening, experiencing other cultures, resilience, enchantment, insight, a cellular knowing as opposed to a cerebral knowing, are all possible benefits of primitive dance. Gray, who has taught and performed throughout Europe, Central Asia, Australia, the United States and Canada, is a recipient of the Kennedy Center's 2003 Local Dance Commissioning Project Award and the International Academy of Middle Eastern Dance Awards for Best Choreographer (2003) and Best Ethnic Dancer (1999), teaches "Dances of the Islamic World" and "Dances of Egypt" as Adjunct Faculty at George Washington University and George Mason University, has taught Russ
“I know exactly what I want to do for the ritual dance into the sea. I want
to be Pele,” I told the sponsor . Only later did I realize how audacious was
my decision, a decision which launched me on an unusual adventure into
another culture.
The next day, we arose early to prepare for our expedition to a secluded
beach, probably the first time in my life that I had put on false eyelashes
before
with Nature’ into practice. Here was the ultimate experience in
performance improvisation. The sand, the surf, and the wind all presented
unexpected elements which changed our movements. Try to fight them
and one becomes awkward and off-balance. But Nature becomes an
exciting unseen partner for those who embrace her.
Each group of women created a unique dance as they improvised
together. Some were lyrical and sensuous, others humorous and playful.
We watched enchanted as each group took their turn. At last it was my
chance. I carefully placed my gift on the beach were the tide would soon
claim it. The image of Pele walking along the beach, surveying her
creation, came to mind. I began to dance.
A sudden wind lifted up my veil, turning the orange, red, and yellow silk
into dancing flames. My feet sank into the wet sand and I could not move
as I had planned. Instead, the motions of the hula class surprisingly
flowed throw me, taking command. This was the dance that this land had
created. This was the dance that Pele now demanded. The gestures
showing the land, the waves, the flowers, the rain, even the paddling of a
canoe -- all made perfect sense. Only later did I discover that this
particular beach is famous in Hawai
here before us.
This experience of dancing with Nature -- of dancing with Pele herself –
gave me a precious gift of fresh insight into Pers
dance.
I can honestly say that while I knew this intellectually, I did not know it
on a truly cellular level until I came to
The transformation was remarkable. I had to look twice to recognize some
of the women. Draped in flowing silks, their limbs became more eloquent.
The kohl-rimmed eyes flirted more coquettishly. Instead of Americans on
a Hawai
frolic in the private gardens of their estate.
Suliman joined us, pulling out his nay and sitting on a rock to play
music for us. We moved slowly and graciously, each gesture flowing
seamlessly into the next. Soon I abandoned the framework of the etude
and began to improvise a dance. Magically, the women followed,
enraptured by that precious moment in which the dancer and the music
fuse into one.
This then was Pele's gift -- a new understanding of the inextricable link
between Nature and the dance, a clear vision into the archaic origins of
movement. Every gesture was suddenly imbued with new meaning. We
were truly dancing with Nature, as our arms described the trees, the
flowers, the vault of heaven, and the gentle breeze. We were not
ourselves, but the houris of paradise, lured down to earth by the
irrevocable command of Nature herself. Thank you, Tutu Pele. ( ¶ 1-46)
When examining an experienced dancer’s experiential experience the benefits of dance can clearly be seen. Note the key-phrases as they become footprints leading yet again to the conclusion that dance has a valuable place in holistic health:-
“I want to be Pele--the ultimate experience in performance improvisation--try to fight them and one becomes awkward and off-balance--but Nature becomes an exciting unseen partner for those who embrace her--we watched enchanted--this experience of dancing with Nature --of dancing with Pele herself --gave me a precious gift of fresh insight--I did not know it on a truly cellular level until I came to Maui--the transformation was remarkable--magically, the women followed, enraptured by that precious moment in which the dancer and the music fuse into one--this then was Pele's gift--a new understanding of the inextricable link between Nature and the dance--we were not ourselves, but the houris of paradise--”. Hard to argue with and very central to the dissertation, that primitive dance has a huge place in holistic health. Even experienced, professional dancers can benefit in so many ways from immersion into primitive dance.
To say that the participant in primitive dance dons one or more personas is an understatement. The use of masks may greatly facilitate the participant’s transition to another persona in order to accelerate the holistic value of primitive dance. Society has so brainwashed the average individual as to proper modicum and decorum that truly, one of the greatest obstacles to participating in primitive dance is the average participant’s reticence to divest themselves of that proper decorum and release themselves into the full experience of the transformation that is necessary to attain the full benefit from primitive dance. Chatterjee, states:
Generally speaking, every person has at least ‘two selves’ one is ‘a self’
without any ‘guise’ and another is a ‘non-self’ which may not be a
pretension always but an ‘alternate self’! To fathom self and the
‘other’(non-self) is a subject of psychology especially the behavioural
one! But for common man the search for ‘self’ and to find out its
reflective imaginations sometime in ‘disguise’ or otherwise has remained
a very essential social exercise since the dawn of our civilization. In this
process he discovered the ‘mask’ codified scores of ‘guise’ which were
miles away from self but very close to the mind! But those masks were
not simple ‘covering’ but a vehicle for ‘imaginations’ of mind of the
mankind which remained a powerful object of reverence for all especially
amongst aboriginals and traditional people.
The Mask-culture which dates back to the pre-historic rock-paintings of
c.30,000 B.C has traveled down the ages and got expressed some time as
‘magico-religion’, ‘sacred enactments in Monasteries’ or at folk theatrical
levels and even through epic depictions, or in carnivals with a touch of
festivity. Thus we see mask remained an integral part of universal culture
surviving in its own way with every face around us.
The role of world of animals, is very prominent amongst the wooden
masks of traditional people of Madhya Pradesh. Here on the ‘face of
mask’ we find carved out images of animal world, snakes, insects and
even the cosmos is depicted. The ‘balance’ of judgment is found on the
chin of a mask as if to depict the natural balance and deliverance of
justice.
However, mask remained an integral part of mankind’s eternal search for
‘macro and micro cosmos’ through the concept of ‘spirit’ and linkage is
established between ‘seen and unseen’. The practice of sporting masks to
invite spiritual powers namely ‘ancestors’ to cure an ailing, to evade ill
effect of evil spirits or to bless an occasion or a newly born. Thus
invoking spirit through the mask is a continuous tradition world wide.
Talking to mask-dancers of
varied ethnic origin believe that ancestor soul do come down through
mask and play the role of philosopher and guide. Lucky Mayo said that
“senior people nurture the concept of family spirit mask and contribute to
protect the culture. Generally, grandfather sport this mask to imbibe the
‘family spirit’ so that the whole family can be taken care of....this is
surviving despite of technological development and it (mask dance)
functions mostly as a pleasant retreat from the techno-dynamics”. In
‘mask spirit’. Lucky Mayo further said that through this mask one can
communicate with dead people and that ‘spirit’ do visit people and dream
as well. Those masks are very sacred and those are made of wood, natural
fibre, seeds, cane, jute .Those masks are of natural colour. In
masks are created after invocation with sacred songs etc.
The renowned scholar Balan Nambiar traced the ritualistic dance of
Western coast of
dances such as Patayani, Teyyam, Bhuta,Tira and Kummatti are in vogue.
Amongst rural population there is a strong belief of ‘masks apparently to
these souls of ancestors’ which is quite near to the African experience we
have observed above. Balan Nambiar said “Mask dancers, who propitiate
the spirit and in a state of trance give manifold blessings to the gathered
devotees, both heal the sick and entertain the spectators. Within their
context, mask-wearers are auxiliary spirits which, when aroused, lead in a
trance to the world of spirits.”
Similar belief system is in vogue in
mask is an unique example. The mask known as Dahaata Sanniya or
‘eighteen disease’ is studded with 18 diseased faces atop a pair
of their gods and two spirits one the spreader of pain through disease and
other the saviour is placed vertically apart. Prof. M.H. Goonatilleka
explained that in folk religion this is in vogue. He explained that
“Pritiatory magical and therapeutic effects of mask and attendant rituals of
dancer donning demon masks may not be aware of the significance of
ritual transformation and the assumption of the role of the disease-causing
demon.”
Masks of Siva and Durga and her manifestive look in the form of
‘shakti’ remained one of the powerful iconic masks in
‘shakti’ in the Shape of Durga and Kali is very common on the eastern
belt of
these performances of Mask Dance. In Andhra Pradesh, the Narasimha
icon in the Bhagavata -mala is very popular. Masks on the one side
depicts the power of ‘deity’and alongside depicts the pet or ‘vahana’ of
the respective god. Like in
depiction wherein ‘asura’ the devil is killed by Shakti.
Thus mask is linked with natural power with ritualistic connotations to
strike a harmonious balance with the forces of nature and spirit of the
world. ( ¶ 1-28)
Once again, the familiar expressions are here:-
“The practice of sporting masks to invite spiritual powers namely ancestors to cure an ailing, to evade ill effect of evil spirits or to bless an occasion or a newly born--give manifold blessings to the gathered devotees, both heal the sick and entertain the spectators--the healing spirit mask--magical and therapeutic effects of mask--mask is linked with natural power with ritualistic connotations to strike a harmonious balance with the forces of nature and spirit of the world.” Healing, magic, blending with nature, all come together in the various mask dances around the world, to connect, enchant, heal and empower humanity. As was pointed out earlier, the use of masks facilitates the transition from impoverished modern man to empowered, self-aware, multi-dimensional being, as the individual uses masks to immerse himself into the world of primitive dance. Masks will help to liberate the child-of-the-universe-within, so that it can come out and play and discover the holistic value of primitive dance.
Primitive dance has a place in healing conflict within community. Eshowsky (1999), states:
When I was a young boy, I used to attend services at a Jewish Nursing
Home. The moments I enjoyed most were the times after kiddush (a
sacred meal), when the men would gather to discuss some spiritual point.
They would argue and argue, sometimes to the point of getting red in the
face and looking like they would explode into a fight. I remember asking
the rabbi, “Who is right?” His response was not what I expected: “They
are all right. Each of them has a piece of the truth.” And so I learned that
we all have our own journey to make and many are trails that lead to
wisdom.
A few years ago I began researching how shamans worked with tribal
conflict. During this research, I discovered that shamans have been
utilized to help heal the conflicts of fifteen years of civil war in
community role in helping maintain the health and welfare of the village.
However, much to my surprise, the topic of what tribal peoples may have
to teach us about living together in a more connected and harmonious
manner remains largely unexplored.
In a shamanic world view where everything is connected, all conflict is
ultimately community conflict. Indigenous societies concede the existence
of conflict but view it as something of importance and of interest to the
community. The conflict is some sort of message directed to the entire
community but expressed through the individuals embroiled in the
conflict. Interpersonal conflict is therefore not really interpersonal to the
indigenous; all conflict is community conflict. The message for the
community that lies behind the friction two people are experiencing must
be assimilated and resolved successfully to serve the greater good of the
community.
My research taught me that the diversity of approaches different shamanic
traditions used for resolving conflicts was vast. Learning this, I became
curious about how they might be adapted to Western culture. Through a
number of journeys, I gained insights, which
article shares some of these understandings and offers case examples of
healing brought to specific conflict situations.
My keenest interest in this work has been in community conflict healing
and working within the natural groupings in which it occurs. A couple of
years ago, I befriended a group of people who were building a spiritual
gathering place in rural
shamanic practitioner and teacher. I really appreciated their open
heartedness and the purity of intent in their dreams.
As they were beginning to build, a multinational corporate farming group
based in
factory pig farm. For all the people of this particular valley, it would mean
weeks of awful smells as well as a number of environmental impact
concerns. For the people I knew, it meant the end of their dream if this
factory farm were to be built.
The positive side of this conflict was how the issues allowed the spiritual
community to become known by other community members and how it
demystified for all what they were doing and who they were. The zoning
ordinance passed the
there were a number of legal issues which might overturn this ordinance.
Toward the end of this process, an attempt was made to conduct a
community healing ritual for the conflict. It had consumed weeks and
months of people's lives. Attempts were made to invite a wide spectrum
of community members. A conflict healing dance occurred similar to what
was described earlier in this article As is generally the case, the most
immediate impact of these rituals was an increased sense of understanding
and compassion for the complexity of issues involved.
The real impact of the ritual came the next day. The non-local owners
cancelled the contract with the corporation and agreed to sell the farm to a
group of locals for the price they had paid. It was a bolt out of the blue. It
meant the owners had given up the opportunity to profit greatly. The
corporation looked at a couple of other sites in the area, but eventually
gave up. ( ¶ 1-34)
Note the familiar phrases:-
“--as is generally the case, the most immediate impact of these rituals was an increased sense of understanding and compassion for the complexity of issues involved--in a shamanic world view where everything is connected, all conflict is ultimately community conflict--” Dance has a central part in the healing of conflict, by involving the community, by increasing awareness of the big picture--the holistic picture—the resultant magic is beneficial to all concerned.
Chants, in general have powerful vibratory integrative and healing effects. A look is now taken at how music and chant enhance the holistic healing effect of primitive dance when blended in with it. Marks (1999), writes:
Sacred music and dance are powerful tools that have been used by
cultures throughout the ages to awaken consciousness, call in power, heal
the body and spirit and enhance the celebration of important occasions.
For the ancients, dance and music were considered not just for
entertainment but as forms of active prayer and worship, a way of
communing with the gods and goddesses, of re-connecting with the cycles
of nature and with all life.
Today in the West, many people have forgotten the true purpose of these
arts. We need to reclaim our ancient dance/music heritage, to revive and
create sacred music and dance forms that are appropriate for our lives
today.
Sound, especially the human voice is a powerful catalyst for healing and
transformation. As we sound and sing, we harmonize our being, lift our
spirits and dissolve our pain.
Unlike a song, a chant usually consists of only a few words and
a simple melody that can be readily learned and easily repeated. Because
of this repetitive quality, chants put us quickly into a meditative state and
help us to easily clear and center our minds. A chant is designed to
activate and balance the inner self, to amplify and raise energy and focus
spiritual power. As we chant the words and melody repetitively, we give
voice to our feelings, deepen our devotion, and call forth what we want
into our lives. Every chant has a specific purpose and meaning associated
with it that can be invoked each time it is sung. A chant accumulates
power with each repetition. It helps us to become one-pointed in our
concentration; to quiet and empty our active thinking minds and connect
deeply with the core of our being. The simpler and more repetitive the
chant, the more effective it is. Repetition puts us easily in a hypnotic state
where we no longer have to think about what we are singing; the chant
begins to work through us. We are no longer doing the singing, the
singing is doing us.
Often a chant incorporates a key inspirational, sacred
phrase called a mantra in Sanskrit. The word ‘man’, means to meditate or
contemplate, and ‘tra’ means to protect and free from bondage. These
sacred phrases include the names of God/Goddess, prayers, poems and
other inspirational thoughts upon which we can meditate, bringing us
closer to spirit, to ourselves and all life. Mantras are chanted over and
over, either aloud or silently, helping us to attune to a particular vibration,
deity or energy we want to bring into our lives. An effective mantra or
chant stays with us and reverberates in our mind throughout the day. It
brings us increasing balance and harmony and creates a deep trance state
which can last for hours.
Larger group drums, known as Mother drums, are often used by
communities and dance circles. These drums usually sit on a stand and are
played by up to eight persons.
Dance has been used throughout the ages by all cultures for healing,
meditation and celebration. Movement is as natural to our lives as
breathing. Like chanting, movement helps us to express our inner spirit
through outer form, to ground and physicalize our intentions and
inspirations. All peoples of the world have traditions of sacred/ folk
dances. Some dances are done in circles on the earth; others
in temples and churches. The movements may reflect nature or imitate
animals; they are usually simple and repetitive.
As we sing and dance, we join spiritually with others on the planet and lay
the foundations for a peaceful harmonious world. We celebrate our unity
and diversity, and honor all our spiritual paths. Our reverberation expands
in spirals of light and sound, like the ripples of a pebble dropped in a
pond. Let us open our hearts and spirits and join together in a circle of
song…. ( ¶ 1-94)
Once again, these words go to the core of the dissertation, primitive dance blended with music and or chanting is a powerful vehicle for enhancing one’s holistic health. Marks (1999), clearly elucidates on the power that sound/chanting/singing creates when weaved into primitive dance. Sound, particularly the human voice is a potent channel for therapeutic healing and transformation via the quantum experience.
Chapter Three
Results and Findings.
Although there is a huge paucity of research available on primitive dance, enough was found to review and draw conclusions from. The review of the literature adequately demonstrated that primitive dance is a modality that can be employed to enhance holistic health. The literature clearly showed that adding the dimensions of sacredness, costumes, amb
The fact that there are national organizations that support and encourage dance as a modality of healing and or therapy, buttressed the hypothesis that primitive dance, as a healing modality has a beneficial and useful place in the life of homo sapiens sapiens. By far the quintessential research on primitive dance came from Katz (1982) and Lee (1984). They spent the most time, effort and scientific method in studying the San, although the contributions of the others also added valuable material from the point of view of how modern man/woman responds to primitive dance. The work of these two men, was comprehensive, effective and fascinating. Their research not only addressed and answered the research questions but went beyond that, to portray a haunting, magical people, from whom there is much, to learn. For example, the fact that dance has great holistic value, is to the San a foregone conclusion, no San would even think of questioning this.
Katz (1982) and Lee (1984) clearly showed how the San successfully use primitive dance for healing, hunting, mating, nutrition, emotional well-being, community, etc. The study showed that governments, like that of
Wells (2002), in his groundbreaking work with the human genetic code shows how the secrets of humanity’s ancestors are hidden in the human genetic code. He reveals how developments in the cutting-edge science of population genetics have made it possible to create a family tree for the whole of humanity. It is now not only known where humanity’s ancestors lived but who they fought, loved, and influenced. His work is replete with astonishing information. Wells (2002), claims that humanity can trace its origins back to a single Adam and Eve, but that Eve came first by some 80,000 years.
He demonstrates how the male Y-chromosome has been used to trace the spread of humanity from Africa into Eurasia, why differing racial types emerged when mountain ranges split population groups, and that the San Bushmen of the Kalahari have some of the oldest genetic markers in the world. The San are probably the oldest hunter-gatherers to survive into the twenty-first century, and they have already been reduced to anonymity. What a crying shame! Instead of taking the work of Katz (1982) and Lee (1984), to heart and doing everything possible to preserve the sanctity of the San nation and to learn all that can be learned from them, they have just about been obliterated. This does not bode well for humanity as a so-called civilization.
The study showed that primitive dance fosters egalitar
So, clearly, primitive dance is not for everyone. Stevens clearly showed that several members of the group benefited from dance in physical, mental and spiritual ways. So, here is seen a more realistic state of consciousness. The participants in primitive dance experience the renting of the holy veil in two, so to speak, and yet, that is also a healing of sorts, as they come to terms with the infinitude of their existentialism. While humanity wears this mantle called the mind-body-spirit triune, it will never reach the ultimate nirvana.
Chopra (1990), showed us that humanity lives in a quantum universe and that reality is really a matter of personal interpretation, if not a totally subjective one. From Chopra (1990), it may be concluded that primitive dance is equal to any other modality of healing. When it comes to trauma, acute illness, or any other medical emergency for which it is known that capable help is readily available, though, it would be foolish not to take full advantage of the very expert ken and ability of allopathic medicine.
The mere fact that there is an American Dance Therapy Association, buttresses the holistic value of primitive dance vis-à-vis the holistic health of modern man, but by no means is it the only reason. The Association has hundreds of practicing members all over the
The literature amply showed that dance has been with humanity from time immemorial and that it has been used for holistic health from time immemorial. The literature showed that the status quo are very much against alternative healing and holistic modalities such as primitive dance. A self-empowered, independent population, cannot easily be controlled and manipulated. As a consequence the Church and State have always done their best to either ridicule self-empowering ideas or to outright outlaw them as heretical and/or acts of treason. Through the medium of primitive dance humanity can heal, experience communal expression, receive new inspiration for the inner journey as well as the nature of work in the modern world. Primitive dance fills a deep spiritual void in humans.
However, the question may be asked: “Why primitive dance? Why not meditation, relaxation techniques, television, massage, aromatherapy, etc.?” There is nothing wrong with any other modality per se. However, modern homo sapiens sapiens is absolutely brainwashed, stymied, stupefied if not mortified by television and the horrendously inane and anal-retentive material that is being regurgitated minute-in, minute-out, hour-in, hour-out, day-in, day-out relentlessly and with a reckless abandon that is absolutely horrifying to say the least! Primitive dance as a holistic tool to enhance health is such a pleasant activity in comparison. It takes the individual out of the house, away from television and out into the community where real magic is just waiting to happen in an inter-dependent, inter-connected manner that includes all of the family and leaves no one behind. The benefits are enormous, from social, to holistic health, to communal, to career-enhancement, even to political goals, they can all be met as the individual becomes involved in the holistic atmosphere and philosophy and amb
Hunt (1995), showed that the body is a symphony of vibrations and that primitive movement has a very holistic effect on such vibrations. Primitive movements innovate new neural pathways, liberate locked tissue and activate a fluid flux in a previously static system. The movement within the fluids transforms all healing processes. Primitive dance is intimately intertwined with nutrition, as Tierra (1998), points out. The amb
Because primitive dance is by nature a community affair, it encourages participation by all. The study showed the value the individual derives from being part of community. The study showed that primitive dance gives the individual an anchor to the soul, as opposed to the bland, vapid and insipid subsistence of modern man. The study also showed that dance has a central part in the healing of conflict, by involving the community, by increasing awareness of the big picture, the holistic picture.
Fear reigns supreme in the breast of homo sapiens sapiens. The study showed that primitive dance very often acts out the process of the hunt, thus the individual benefits immensely by expanding his comfort zone, as he takes part in the hunt-dances. As the warrior-cum-modern-man acts out the part, the concomitant psychosomatic dynamic is activated, giving rise to, among other phenomena, the visualization that takes place. This enhances self-esteem, expands comfort zones. This in turn makes the individual a more able hunter, enabling him to provide the nutrition he needs for himself, the tribe, family, community and nation at large. The study showed that likewise, modern man, by participating in primitive dance, expands his/her comfort zone and enhances his/her self-esteem, as the concomitant visualization stirs within him/her the belief in her/his ability to manifest that coveted job, or that desired soul-mate, etc.
The study showed that participation in primitive dance brings with it more than just dancing. It brings with it a whole way of life, a life that expands the individual’s awareness in countless other areas of life other than just dancing. The study showed that participants are moved to make major life-changes such as turn their backs on addictions like alcoholism. The study showed that participation in primitive dance by modern man will enhance holistic health in many ways, for example, primitive dance is more often than not associated with spiritual practice, which is often associated with nutrition. This is a big breakthrough when one considers that most people find it absolutely impossible to give up destructive nutritional habits, whether those be narcotics, alcohol, malnutrition, co-dependencies, etc. Take such an individual and immerse him in the holistic amb
The study showed that participants in primitive dance, enjoy the concomitant holistic benefits, such as, for example, the physiological state is influenced by the mental-emotional state and vice versa. A depressed person moves easily from the state of depression to the state of mental well-being by the mere act of participating in the amb
The study very ably showed how healing, magic, blending with nature, in other words, the spirit of come out and play all come together in the various mask dances around the world, to connect, to enchant, to heal, to empower, to amuse. The use of masks greatly facilitates the transition from impoverished modern man to empowered, self-aware, multi-dimensional being, as the individual uses masks to immerse himself into the world of primitive dance. Masks help to liberate the child-of-the-universe-within, so that it can come out and play and discover the holistic value of primitive dance.
The study showed the power of chant/song/the spoken word. Chants, in general have powerful vibratory integrative and healing effects. Primitive dance blended with music and or chanting is a powerful vehicle for enhancing holistic health. Marks (1999), elucidates on the power that sound/chanting/singing creates when weaved into primitive dance. Sound, particularly the human voice is a potent channel for therapeutic healing and transformation via the quantum experience.
To conclude this chapter, some thoughts on how the results of the research may impact the issue being studied, which is:
The holistic health of the individual and or group is in dire need of whatever assistance it can receive towards healing. Humanity lives in fast-paced times where lives can be easily dissociated and fragmented. Humanity is separated from the natural world, natural rhythms, and its natural instinct to move as part of its homeostatic, self-correcting, self-healing mechanism. There is a horrendous paucity in the general populace of the recognition and value of primitive dance as a vehicle for holistic health. It was hoped that the study would make the value of primitive dance very clear. The study showed such incredibly promising results from using primitive dance as a tool for enhancing holistic health that it becomes absolutely imperative to place much attention, focus and further research on how humanity can best utilize this modality for holistic healing.
Chapter Four
Conclusions, Implications and Recommendations for Further Research.
The conclusions that can logically be drawn from the study are:
i) Primitive dance is a modality that can be employed to enhance holistic health.
ii) Adding the dimensions of sacredness, costumes, chanting/singing, tribal amb
iii) Primitive dance benefits homo sapiens sapiens physically, emotionally, spiritually and holistically.
iv) The fact that there are national organizations that support and encourage dance as a modality of healing and or therapy buttresses the hypothesis that primitive dance, as a healing modality has a beneficial and useful place in the life of homo sapiens sapiens.
v) The individual can expect strong opposition from the status quo. He can even expect ridicule. Participation in primitive dance shows colossal promise towards guiding the individual, and eventually the group/community to emancipation, so that the human expression can reach for that sublime elixir-of-eternal-life, so to speak, as far as enhancing holistic health.
vi) The
vii) The phenomenon of conflict in the modern world is a scourge of gargantuan proportions. Primitive dance is an ideal vehicle that communities can employ to alleviate this scourge.
The impact of the study and the concomitant benefits to society as a whole.
a) In an economy where people are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet, primitive dance has a huge part to offer as an inexpensive healing modality. Even the cost of nutritional supplements has become prohibitive. Billions of dollars would be saved, that could be put to better use, such as educating and inspiring people to fulfill their human potential.
b) The spirit of the individual has never been under greater attack than it is now. The inane dictum that the individual must sacrifice himslef for the common good, is securely entrenched in society. This is rubbish and unacceptable. Everyone matters, in a cosmic as well as in an everyday manner. It is not necessary, for example, for the individual to sacrifice his/her life defending his/her government in order to prove his/her intrinsic worth. Primitive dance is a magnificent tool that can give that inalienable self-esteem, self-worth and self-respect back to the individual. One huge benefit, is no more wars.
c) Mental illness is pandemic in the modern world. Primitive dance offers immense benefits to the individual, having a great inherent capacity for restoring physical, emotional, spiritual and holistic mental health. People have been known to have been in psychoanalysis for seventeen years for the dysfunction of chewing nails, this could probably be cut by a few years, the ability to restrain sarcasm is difficult in the face of such unacceptable accepted status quo situations. Imagine what the individual could do with seventeen years of participation in primitive dance. The status quo treatment of mental health patients leaves a lot to be desired to say the least, here is a wonderful alternative modality.
d) The fact that there are national organizations that support and encourage dance as a modality of healing and or therapy, means that there is a viable, trained group of people that are ready, able and willing to act as consultants, leaders and teachers in spearheading the implementation of primitive dance programmmes as a healing modality.
e) Whole industries have arisen to offer their expertise in dealing with conflict whether corporate or national, calling themselves conflict-resolution-consultants and costing the taxpayer an inordinate amount of money. Primitive dance would go a long way towards eradicating conflict from the planet.
The implications for future research.
Humanity has paid dearly for abandoning its traditions, cultures, ethics and holistic ways of life, of which, primitive dance is an integral part. The study shows very clearly the need for further research into humanity’s roots, particularly how it can, for example, incorporate a so-called tribal phenomenon such as primitive dance into the modern life. Lest a misunderstanding has arisen, it is not at all advocated that humans put on loin cloths and creep back into the jungles, no, rather that it behooves humanity to embark on research programmes that will show it how to weave its ancient human heritage into its modern frenetic life.
Specific recommendations for future research.
As the study has shown, primitive dance is a huge field with many sub-fields such as nutrition, physical fitness, mental/emotional health, self-esteem, as well as spiritual implications. Each of these disciplines is a potential field for future research.
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